Claudio Grossman

Claudio Mauricio Grossman Guiloff (born November 26, 1947) is a lawyer and law professor. From 1995 until the summer of 2016, he served as dean of the Washington College of Law of American University in Washington, D.C. He continues to teach at the Washington College of Law and serve as Dean Emeritus.

In November 2016, he was elected to the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) for a five-year term. He was reelected to the ILC in 2021. In November 2021, he was also appointed Advisor without Portfolio to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Grossman has also served as vice chair of the United Nations Committee Against Torture (2003–2008) and as Chairperson (2008–2015). He is a former member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (1993–2001). He was twice elected its president, first in 1996 and again in 2001. He was the IACHR's first Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women (1996–2000) and its Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Populations (2000–2001).

Early life and education Grossman was born in Valparaíso, Chile. He is Jewish-Chilean. He attended the law school at the University of Chile in Santiago. He received his Licenciado en Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales in March 1971, with a summa cum laude thesis "Nacionalización y Compensación," coauthored with Carlos Portales.

Career Grossman served as a lecturer in the University of Chile's Faculty of Law in 1972 and as a research fellow at the Instituto de Estudios Internacionales (Institute of International Studies) at the University of Chile in 1973.

From 1974 to 1980, Grossman was associate professor in international law at the Department of International Organizations of the Europa Institute of the Law School of the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. In August 1980, Grossman earned the Doctor in de Rechtsgeleerdheid (Doctor of the Science of Law) at the University of Amsterdam. Grossman oversaw the hiring of 50 new faculty members and the construction of the Tenley campus. As dean, Grossman was recognized as one of the 25 most influential figures in legal education. 2025, Nelson Mandela Award from the Association of American Law Schools March 2025, Premio Facultad de Derecho de la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad de Chile Harry LeRoy Jones Award from the Washington Foreign Law Society René Cassin Award from B’nai B’rith International